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I did not oppose all wars I said I was

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a strong supporter of the war in
Afghanistan but I said I could not support

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a dumb war a rash war in
Iraq I worried about a U.S.

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Occupation of undetermined length at
undetermined costs with undetermined

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consequences in the heart of the Muslim
world I pleaded that we finish the fight

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with bin Laden and al Qaeda the
political winds were blowing in

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a different direction the president was
determined to go to war and there was just

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one obstacle the U.S.

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Congress nine days after I spoke that
obstacle was removed Congress rubber stamped

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the rush to war giving the president the
broad and open ended authority he uses to

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this day with that vote
Congress became co-author of

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a catastrophic war and we went off to
fight on the wrong battlefield with no

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appreciation of how many enemies we would
create and no plan for how to get out

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because of

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a war in Iraq that should have never been
authorized and should have never been

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waged we are now less safe than we were
before nine eleven according to the

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National Intelligence Estimate the threat
to our homeland from al Qaeda is quote

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persistent and evolving Iraq as

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a training ground for terror torn apart by
civil war in Afghanistan is more violent

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than it has been since two
thousand and one al-Qaeda has

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a sanctuary in Pakistan Israel is besieged
by emboldened enemies talking openly of

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its destruction Iran is now presenting
the broader strategic challenge to the

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United States in the Middle East in

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a generation groups affiliated with or
inspired by al Qaeda operate worldwide

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six years after nine eleven
we are again in the midst of

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a summer of threat with bin Laden and many
more terrorist Determined to Strike in

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the United States. What's more in the dark
halls of Abu Ghraib and the detention

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cells of one tonn

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a mole we have compromised our most precious
values what could have been a call to

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a generation has become an excuse
for unchecked presidential power

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a tragedy that united us was turned into

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a political wedge issue used to divide
us it is time to turn the page and it is

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time to write

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a new chapter in our response to nine
eleven. And be clear just because the

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president misrepresents our enemy does
not mean that we do not have enemies the

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terrorists are at war with
us the threat is from

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a violent is from violent
extremists who are

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a small minority of the world's one point
three billion Muslims but the threat is

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real they distort Islam they kill man woman
and child Christian and Hindu Jew and

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Muslim they seek to create

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a repressive caliphate and to defeat this
enemy we must understand who are we are

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fighting against and what are we fighting
for the president would have us believe

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that every bomb in Baghdad is part of
war against us not an Iraqi civil war

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elevates al Qaeda in Iraq which didn't exist
before our invasion and overlooks the

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people who hit us on nine eleven who are
training new recruits in Pakistan right

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now he wants together groups with very
different goals al Qaeda and Iran Shia

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militias and Sunni insurgents he confuses
our mission and worse he is fighting the

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war that the terrorists want us to fight.
Bin Laden and his allies know they cannot

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defeat us on the field of battle or in

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a genuine battle of ideas but they can
provoke the reaction we've seen in Iraq

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a misguided invasion of

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a Muslim country that sparks new insurgencies
ties down our military busts our

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budgets increases the pool of terrorist
recruits alienates America gives democracy

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a bad name and prompts the American people
to question our engagement in the world

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by refusing to end the war in Iraq President
Bush is giving the terrorists what

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they really want and what the Congress
voted to give them in two thousand and two

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a U.S.

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Occupation of undetermined length at
undetermined cost with undetermined consequences

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it is time to turn the page when I'm president
we will wage the war that has to be

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won with

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a comprehensive strategy with five elements
getting out of Iraq and on the right

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battlefield in Afghanistan and Pakistan
developing the capabilities and

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partnerships we need to take out the
terrorists and the world's most deadly weapons

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engaging the world to dry up support for
terror and extremism restoring our values

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and securing

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a more resilient homeland let me talk about
each of these in turn the first step

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must be to get off the wrong battlefield
in Iraq and take the fight to the

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terrorists in Afghanistan
and Pakistan I introduced

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a plan in January that would have already
started bringing our troops out of Iraq

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with the goal of removing all combat
brigades by March thirty first two thousand

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and eight if the president continues to
veto this plan that ending this war will be

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my first priority when I take office there
is no military solution in Iraq only

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Iraq's leaders can settle the grievances
at the heart of Iraqi civil war we must

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apply pressure on them to act and our best
leverage is reducing our troop presence

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and we must also do the hard sustained
diplomatic work in the region on behalf of

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peace and stability. In ending the war we
must act with more wisdom than we started

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and that's why my plan would maintain
sufficient forces in the region to target all

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al-Qaeda within Iraq but we must recognize
that Al Qaeda is not the primary source

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of violence in Iraq and has little support
not from Shia and Kurds who are al Qaeda

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targets or Sunni tribes hostile to foreigners
on the contrary as appeal within Iraq

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is enhanced by our troop presence ending
the war will help isolate al Qaeda and

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give Iraqis the incentive and opportunity
to take them out will also allow us to

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direct badly needed resources to Afghanistan
our troops have fought valiantly there

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but Iraq has deprived them of the
support that they need and deserve as

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a result parts of Afghanistan are falling
into the hands of the Taliban and

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a mix of terrorism drugs and corruption
threatens to overwhelm the country as

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president I will deploy at least two
additional brigades to Afghanistan to

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reinforce our counterterrorism operations
and support NATO as efforts against the

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Taliban as we step up our commitment our
European friends must do the same and

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without the burdensome restrictions that
have hampered NATO Zephyrs we must also

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put more of an Afghan face on security by
improving the training and equipping of

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Afghan army and police and
including Afghan soldiers and U.S.

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And NATO operations we must not however
repeat the mistakes of Iraq. The solution

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in Afghanistan is not just military it
is political and economic That's why as

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president I will increase our nonmilitary
aid by one billion dollars to Afghanistan

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and these resources should fund projects
at the local level to impact ordinary

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Afghans including the development of
alternative livelihoods for poppy farmers and

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we must seek better performance from
the Afghan government and support that

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performance through tough anti-corruption
safeguards on aid and increased

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international support to develop the rule
of law across the country above all I

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will send

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a clear message We will not repeat the
mistakes of the past when we turned our back

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on Afghanistan following the Soviet
withdrawal as nine eleven showed us the

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security of Afghanistan and America is
shared and today that security is most

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threatened by the al Qaeda and Taliban
sanctuaries in the tribal regions of

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northwest Pakistan al-Qaeda terrorists
train travel and maintain global

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communications in the safe
haven the Taliban pursues

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a hit and run strategy striking in Afghanistan
than skulking across the border to

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safety this is the wild frontier of our
globalized world there windswept deserts

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and cave dotted mountains there are tribes
that see borders as nothing more than

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lines on

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a map and governments as forces that
come and go their blood ties deeper than

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alliances of convenience and pockets of
extremism that follow religion to violence

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it is

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a tough place but that is no excuse there
must be no safe havens for terrorists who

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threaten America we cannot fail to act
just because action is hard as president I

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would make hundreds of
millions of dollars in U.S.

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Military aid to Pakistan conditional and I
would make our conditions clear Pakistan

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must make substantial progress in
closing down the training camps

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a victim foreign fighters and preventing
the Taliban from using Pakistan as

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a staging area for attacks in Afghanistan.